Business Cards
by 0Rosina0
Summary: Sakura and her brother, Touya, run away from their parent's violent murder. The police suspect them to be guilty and their parents' murderers are still free. Not only that, but the local street gang has taken an unhealthy notice of them. What will come for the two of them? Homeless, hurt, and hungry, "everything will surely be alright," won't it?
1. Home

A/N for the people: Hello guys! This is my novel written in 2011 for the infamous National Novel Writing Month of November. I had been meaning to write this forever, and NaNoWriMo was the perfect excuse.

It is definitely alternate universe, but it pulls a lot of true information from the original series. There is no magic. I am more likely to use facts from the anime than the manga. Everything from proper birthdays to relationships to deaths to catch phrases is used. Of course, I'll throw you a curve ball every once in a while to keep you on your toes.

I definitely want to make one thing clear:

In this novel, Sakura shows a lot of love for her brother. Rest assured, this is only fraternal love and nothing else.

_I finally got busted. These damn life-suckers have caged me like an animal in their hell again. This is what I've avoided since I can remember. I hate the police like flames burning through my bones._

_The only comfort is that I'm not scared anymore._

_There is nothing they can do to me that hasn't already been done, short of kill me. I don't think I'm even afraid of that anymore. Death might be a pleasant relief after all this bullshit._

_The the lens of the surveillance camera stares me down, threatening my every move. This time, I am sure there is no escape. There are no inside spies, no gang waiting outside the door, no brother scheming my escape. I am alone._

_So here I am, sitting in what might as well be a concrete cupboard in front of a table thats bolted to the floor. My hands lay on it in front of me in handcuffs, grasping a pen and paper, mulling over the task they have left me; to write down my side of the story._

_The only thing I can do now is write._

Daddy patted my head affectionately as I rocked back and forth on the balls of my toes. The lion heads of my slippers wobbled back and forth joyfully. He had just returned from another work trip. My brother, Touya, looked excited too.

"It's time to go to bed Sakura," Daddy warned kindly. "You need to get enough sleep or I won't be able to play with you again tomorrow."

"B-but...I h-haven't seen y-you in s-s-so long!" I cried, reaching up my hands to be picked up into his arms. Tears welled in my eyes. I ran at him and wrapped my arms around his knees. My mean brother stuck his tongue out at me, as if to call me a baby.

"Oh, Sakura. Everything will surely be alright. There is always tomorrow. Tomorrow might be the greatest day of our lives."

Despite my increasingly loud protests, Daddy easily lifted my three-year-old self and brought me to my bed. My lion slippers were discarded at the edge, and he tucked me in. I still sniffled.

"Daddy, don't go."

"Sakura, I'll still be here in the morning. It will come sooner than you think! Goodnight. I love you," he whispered, then turned off the light and closed the door as he left the room.

I shimmied out of bed and hustled to the door to follow. The light flowing in from around the crack in the door was abruptly cut off by the figure of Mommy. I didn't want her to be disappointed in me, so I didn't exit the room. However, my curiosity won out, and I put a small ear to the crack to listen to my parents' conversation.

"Fujitaka, will everything really be alright?"

"I just don't know. I just... don't know, Nadeshiko. I think we should get out of the country for a while, to keep the kids safe."

"I- I- ... Tomorrow. For the kids. We can't take any risks."

Mommy and Daddy sounded really serious, so I knew that I shouldn't be caught. I sneaked back into bed to hide under the covers, grabbing the family photo off my dresser and clutching it close to my chest. I hoped that Daddy was right, and that morning would really come soon.

I awoke with a start. Loud sounds kept on coming from every direction and I was really scared. I scrunched my body as far under the covers as possible, in order to escape from the sound. The family photo was still clenched tightly in my hands. The house almost seemed to be shaking with noise. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my arms over my ears.

Suddenly, the blanket was removed off me, and my arms were jerked away from my head. I heard the distant screams of Mommy. They were unlike anything I ever heard before.

"No! Get away!"

I was quaking in my pyjamas. The horrid screams came again.

"RUN! NO, DON'T YOU DARE!"

A pair of hands shook my shoulders, and I mustered the courage to open my eyes. Touya's eyes met mine. He ran to the window and slammed it open. Grabbing my hand and using my desk as a step-stool, he pulled us outside onto our porch rooftop. He grabbed my shoulders again and forced me to look into his eyes.

"We h-have to get out. Mom said, 'Run.' W-We need to get out of here!" he cried. I nodded my head frantically, then noticed the proximity of the edge of the rooftop. I buried my face in his shoulder in fear. I heard him mutter to himself the same phrase over and over.

"Everything will surely be alright. Everything will surely be alright. Everything will sure-" he continued. He picked me up, and suddenly the world disappeared beneath us, as my stomach did somersaults. I lifted my face from his shoulder, and noticed we were on our lawn in front of our house. The door was broken open, and every window on the main floor was smashed. Smoke billowed out of the open frames. I could faintly see Mommy's form through the smoke, standing with her arms spread wide. I could hear her screams clearer now.

"What did you do to him? HE'S INNOCENT. You killed him!" she shrilled, then a sudden change occurred in the tone of her voice, and I realized that she had spotted us outside the window

"RUN. Run with all you can! Run until you can't run anymore. Everything will surely be-" My mothers voice was suddenly cut off as a dark shadow passed over her figure. The sounds which followed were forever burned into my young mind, piercing every one of my senses. Touya's grip on me tightened, and I could feel his violent shivers.

Then he ran. I jostled up and down, clinging to his neck. I watched over his shoulder as our burning house faded further into the distance. The centre of the road passed behind us.

The crashes and bangs of our home started to fade away, only to be replaced with sirens. Our direction suddenly jerked sideways, and the volume of the sirens grew exponentially higher. Suddenly, the sounds of tires screeching filled my ears, and I let go of my brothers neck to put my arms over my head. Touya put me down gently to confront the police officer that had exited the car and was walking toward us.

"Young sir. Do you happen to be Touya Kinomoto?" he queried, with a strange smile on his face. He stepped closer, until he towered over us. I shuddered.

"Y-yes sir," Touya responded hesitantly.

"We were just looking for you. It seems as though something strange has occurred at your home. We need to take you into custody."

"You s-suspect us of something. Don't you?" Touya challenged, attempting to hide his fear.

"Only criminals run from the scene of the crime," he smirked, the smile growing on his face. "You two are no exception."

I'm still not sure how, but we outran the officer. His cries echoed behind us.

"Come back you filthy murderers!"

I was running on short stubby legs, causing my legs to tire quickly. I don't think we would have made it had our lives not been on the line. Touya's hand clutched mine, nearly dragging me behind him. We ran and ran and ran. The soles of my feet hurt from their constant slap on the pavement. The policeman's footsteps had faded away, but there was no way to know how far away, or if he was just being silent.

I recognized the area around us. Tall luxurious homes bordered the streets, with fancy trees and gardens adorning the lawns. I kept my gaze sharp, waiting for a particular house to come into view. My brother's hand still lead me forward.

"Aunt Sonomi's house!" I yelled with a sort of delighted desperation. Touya suddenly pivoted and slammed his free hand over my mouth.

"Shh, Sakura. We must be quiet," he ordered in a harsh whisper.

We had stopped moving for that moment, and I once again noticed that he was shaking. His clothes danced over his body in pure terror. He was only ten years old at the time. I was sure I was shaking as well.

The big white house that had cause my outburst stood next to us. It was three stories high and had a blue peaked roof. A large whitewashed porch covered the entire front of the house, and vines climbed up trellises on the light siding. Huge rosebushes sat in front of the porch, surrounded by countless other flowering plants. Normally, this house would leave me with a heart of joy, but the eerie early morning light threw shadows in spooky places.

I was oddly aware at the silence that now embraced the street. Our desperate footsteps no longer flooded the neighbourhood. It was still quite dark, but the clouds looked more grey than black. Upon closer inspection, sirens could be heard wailing in the far distance. I was still feeling breathless from the time spent running, but it almost felt like I was not allowed to breath and interrupt this silence.

A drop of sweat rolled down my cheek, and its tickle temporarily distracted me from the moment. I moved my free hand to wipe the distraction away, but I was caught by surprise as my forehead was met with a hard object. Staring at my hand is disbelief, I noticed something that had been there all along.

The family photo remained clutched by my fingers. The joints of my hand had gone white with the force which my hand clung to the only possession I still had left.

Touya's eyes widened when he notice what was in my hand, and he freed my face from his grasp. He reached out to the photo, hands searching out blindly for more than just an image in a frame. I slowly unclasped my hand from the frame. My fingers had become cramped, and I was starting to notice the pain.

The picture met with Touya's hands, and he brought it up right to his face, blocking it from my view.

My hand really hurt. Tears bubbled into my eyes. I sniffed.

Touya didn't move.

I fell to the ground, my unhurt hand frantically massaging the other in a primitive way to try relieve the pain. I cried, the shock of the pain pouring over me. Sobs racked my childish body and I couldn't think much past my discomfort.

I peered up at Touya, searching for a hint of comfort, however, his face was still hidden by the photo. His shoulders shook up and down, and I could tell that he was crying as well.

He fell to his knees, and his hands finally fell to his lap, revealing a tear-ridden face underneath.

I grabbed his knees and fell to the ground sobbing some more.

"Mommy...Daddy..." I hiccoughed, under my voice. I'd forgotten that I was told to stay silent. I was not alone in forgetting.

Both of us lay there in the middle of the street with tears in our eyes. I don't know how long we were there.

A bar of light flooded onto the street, which blinded us for a second. As we squinted at the offender, our eyes adjusted, and Aunt Sonomi came into view.

"Oh dear goodness, children. Come in. Come in," she said, the emotion unreadable.

Touya and I supported each other as we rose up from the pavement. Glancing downwards, I noticed the picture remained upon the ground. I bent down to pick it up in a hurry, brushing off the absent dirt frantically.

Aunt Sonomi, who had waited in her front door to greet us, realized that we weren't going to arrive at her door quickly. She rushed out the house in her pyjamas, grabbed a hold of one of our arms in each hand, and hurried us toward her front door. Pulling us not all that gently into her house, she let go and peered out the door, flicking her head back and forth to check for occupants on the street. When she decided it was safe, she closed the door and confronted us.

"Did they find you?" Aunt Sonomi asked sternly, the panic evident in her voice. I didn't know what she was talking about, so I kept my mouth shut and faced the floor. After a moment of pause, she asked again.

"Did they find you?!" she demanded. "This is very important. Did the people interested in your father's work find you?"

Touya was silent as well. We were both very afraid. At least, I thought he was silent because he was afraid. Usually Touya knew everything, so I figured he knew the answer, but stayed silent for other reasons, such as fear. Of course, I didn't actually know whether or not he knew anything. I was only three after all.

Aunt Sonomi was losing her patience. She knelt down and grabbed my brother by his shoulders forcefully.

"Are your parents safe?" she yelled, shaking my brother. I couldn't take it anymore. He was my precious brother after all, even if he was a meanie. I threw myself at Aunt Sonomi and banged my fists against her.

"Get away from him you meanie!" I cried. "Don't touch him."

Aunt Sonomi looked at me with calculating eyes and removed her hands from my brother. I backed down. All I know is that people should not harm other people with their bodies. I had just done so too, and I felt a little ashamed. Nonetheless, I had gotten her off him, so I felt a little better. I looked up at her and frowned the best look of disappointment I could muster.

Aunt Sonomi frowned a little and kept one eye on me while addressing Touya for a second time. I kept both my eyes on her.

"Touya. What happened to your parents?" Sonomi asked, controlling her voice, but keeping a steady eye on Touya. He looked very conflicted, and his expression changed each moment. Finally his face broke down

"Th-they... They... They are..." he rasped. His face was completely scrunched up. Tears were a waterfall down his cheeks.

"They are what? Speak up."

"They're dead."

Sonomi was silent.

My mind didn't entirely accept this concept. The last time that I had seen my parents they were alive. Even if the last time I had seen Mommy she was screaming, she was very much alive.

However, I did know one thing; Touya never lied.

I took my eyes off of Sonomi and looked at Touya, searching his eyes for a clear response.

"Mommy and Daddy are...dead?" I asked hesitantly.

"Y-yes," he choked out. He brought his hands up to try to cover his emotion. I'm sure he didn't want to burden me with anything.

"But they are coming back, right? They'll be back, and we can play just like Daddy promised!"

"No, Sakura. No. No no no no no-" Touya continued as a kind of chant. My mind went blank. Too much had happened. I no longer knew how to react. This was beyond my three year old knowledge. Mommy and Daddy were the ones who took care of complicated stuff like this.

Aunt Sonomi seemed satisfied with this information. She stood back up and gathered up her dignity.

"Both of you, return to the guest bedrooms you used last week. Use the washrooms before you go. I will lock the door behind you. Be as quiet as possible; Tomoyo is sleeping. If anyone comes to your door, I want you to hide. I will bring you food in the morning."

Touya must have obeyed, but I didn't hear everything she said, nor did I comprehend it.

"Sakura, you're a big girl. Let's try to get through this. I'll take you with me," Aunt Sonomi said, and took my hand gently. She noticed the picture frame resting in it, and her eyes softened.

"I'll keep that safe. Everything will surely be alright," she said, and tried to take the picture from my hand, but my grip stayed firm. I had long since forgotten about the cramp in my hand muscles; too much was going on.

Aunt Sonomi decided that it was harmless for me to keep the photo with me, and proceeded to bring me to do all the things Touya was doing.

After we were done in the washroom, she took me to the guest bedroom that I was so familiar with. With a swift goodnight, she tried to leave. However, I leaped out of bed and cried.

"Don't leave me alone! Please don't leave me. Please!" I pleaded as I grabbed her leg. She looked down at me and I could tell she was struggling with something. She picked me up into her arms and walked out the door of the bedroom.

"I'll get my butler to bring an extra bed into Touya's room, so you can stay there with him. It will be easier to protect you that way anyways. Will that be alright?" she reasoned. I nodded jerkily.

Soon enough, I joined Touya in his room. He was lying on his back under the covers, but his eyes were wide open. Aunt Sonomi tucked me into bed and locked the door behind her, after saying a brief farewell.

After the door shut, I felt lonely again. Touya's presence was a great comfort to me though. I still couldn't comprehend what he had said about our parents, but I knew it was bad, at that I wouldn't see Mommy or Daddy for a long time. Thinking about it caused me to tear up again. I had cried so much that I was starting to feel thirsty, and I wished that I had brought a glass of water with me.

I was too scared to go get one. I felt extremely uneasy when I was alone, and Touya was the best comfort to me then.

Instead, I shimmied out of bed, much as I had only a few hours of earlier to eavesdrop on my parents, and walked over to Touya's bed. I looked up at him, and his eyes were staring unfocused and staring at the ceiling. I flipped open one side of the covers and climbed in, catching his attention.

"Sakura?" he questioned softly, a worried look on his face. His eyes were red and his face was discoloured from all the crying.

"Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me," I pleaded. I needed him then. He was really the only one I had.

"I promise Sakura. We can make it through this together. Don't leave me either. I'll protect you."

With each other's comfort, we were finally able to fall asleep.


	2. Aunt Sonomi's

_I am bored. Concrete boxes tend to do that to you._

_I'm cold, hungry, and thirsty. These fuckers really didn't know how to treat guests._

"_Guest" was a little too lenient a word. "Prisoner" might be better. "Murderer" could work too. I'm not innocent. I have killed people._

_They have as well._

_Yet I'm the one stuck in this hellhole, being forced into submission, because they have more power than me. I hate them._

_The paper in my hand explained the first day in my life that really mattered._

I was awoken in the middle of the night by loud noises. I escaped with my brother out of a window. My mother screamed about my father being dead, then she was killed herself. We ran away, and encountered a police officer. He threatened us, so we ran away. We stayed at a local park for six months.

_Of course, we didn't actually stay in a park. However, I'm not about to rat out my aunt. Even if she was harsh, those six months were the nicest since my parent's murder._

_I could be honest with the police, but there is no way in hell that they deserve that. Being honest wasn't to my benefit; it rarely was._

_Nonetheless, I'll write some more. Maybe they'll feel pity on me and let me free._

_I laugh. Who am I kidding? When has anyone ever felt true pity on me, let alone heartless scumbags like them?_

_A twinge hits my heart. There have been people. They are all dead to me now, both literally and figuratively._

_I write._

I woke in the morning to find Touya awake next to me, staring off into the distance like he had the night before. I was disoriented, because the familiar pink ceiling of my bedroom wasn't there, and was instead replaced with a white one. Then I remembered the events of the night before. Touya noticed my stirring, and greeted me.

"Good morning, sister."

"Good morning, Touya," I replied. I removed myself from the bed and noticed the family photo on the end table. Touya noticed my gaze and explained.

"I found you sleeping on it last night, so I put it on the nightstand so you wouldn't be uncomfortable," he said. I smiled, partly at his care, and partly at the family photo.

"Are they really gone?" I asked. I looked to him for the answer, genuine incomprehension in my eyes.

"Yes, Sakura. They can't come home anymore. We're going to have to support each other from now on, OK?" he replied softly.

My brother knew everything, so I knew I could trust him. The actual implications of his words hadn't hit me yet, and they wouldn't for quite a long time. Death is a difficult concept to understand.

We didn't have any clothes with us, so I went to exit the room while still in my pyjamas. I discovered that the door was still locked from the night before. I knocked on it softly, hoping that someone would hear and let us out.

The door unlocked, and Tomoyo slowly opened it.

"Cousin Sakura!" she squealed, and threw her arms around my neck. "I heard that something terrible happened, so I was very worried about you."

She noticed my state of attire. Then she looked to Touya as well. He had removed himself from the bed too, and was still wearing the same pyjamas from our escape the night before.

"We didn't have time to bring clothes with us," Touya explained. I nodded in agreement.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that. Sakura, come with me! I have the cutest dresses prepared for you. Touya, I'm sure Mom will be able to find something for you to wear. I'll call her."

Our morning proceeded as it normally would if we had been visiting our aunt's place on an ordinary day, with a few exceptions. All the blinds were pulled shut, and both Touya and I were wearing abnormally frilly clothes. Not to mention, both of us had red eyes.

We ate in silence, until Tomoyo finally announced something excitedly.

"I'm going to school now, Mom. Can you drive me?" she asked. I suddenly realized that my school would be starting momentarily too. We did go to the same school after all. I looked over to Touya, who normally made jokes at me whenever I was late. However, contrary to the norm, he didn't show any hints of teasing, but instead a hint of anger at something else.

"Of course I'll drive you sweetie. Get your things to the car and wait for me. I have to speak with your cousins for a moment first." Aunt Sonomi answered kindly. Tomoyo grinned and ran to find her things. Aunt Sonomi looked at the two of us apologetically.

"Kids, you may have figured it out already, but you won't be able to go to school anymore. There are lots of mean people looking for you right now. You have to stay safe in the house."

"No... school?" I pondered aloud. The thought might have pleased me before- I didn't like school because it kept me away from my family- but now it felt like an added change to the countless changes already occurring.

"We won't be able to attend school at all anymore? How will we learn?" Touya demanded politely but firmly. "Sakura needs to go to school to learn so that she can have a good future! I won't let you take it away from her."

"Touya, please don't speak to me like that. I would like to remind you that it is not me who is stopping you from going to school, but instead the bad people. Of course I have made arrangements for you two to continue learning, even if you don't attend schools," Sonomi reassured us. I squirmed a little. I didn't really care too much about losing my friends at school, because I hadn't made any yet. Then I realized that both Touya and I had to stay home from school. That led me to one conclusion.

"I can be with Touya all day! Whoopee!" I cheered. Sonomi smiled at my revelation. She continued to explain the way our schooling would work.

Simply Watashi, one of Sonomi's longterm staff, would be in charge of home tutoring us. He still had his everyday work jobs to complete, so Touya would fill in any gaps.

She also said something about us only having Watashi because she didn't want many people to know we were in the house, but I didn't really understand. For one, I was really enjoying the hot food that Sonomi's chefs had cooked. Secondly, it was all too complicated for me. Thirdly, I didn't really care. I was still ecstatic over spending time with my brother.

"Hey monster. Only monsters inhale their food," Touya teased, causing me to pay attention again. I frowned, pushing my eyebrows as close together as I could.

"I am not a monster! You big meanie!" I whined. I quickly took back my comment about being happy to spend time with my brother. He was just a meanie after all.

Our days carried on pretty consistently from then on. We would wake up and go downstairs to eat breakfast with Aunt Sonomi and Tomoyo. Then Tomoyo would go off to school, and Watashi would give us two private lessons. After that, Watashi would leave, and Touya would teach me, or help me through a few exercises. We would eat dinner with the group of us again, then Touya and I would go upstairs to his bedroom to sleep. Aunt Sonomi would lock the door behind us, and warn us to hide if anyone tried to enter.

Then the cycle would repeat.

I was pretty happy with this new life. I missed Mommy and Daddy a lot, but a part of me thought they would be coming back. I mean, Daddy disappeared all the time on his archaeology trips. Maybe Mommy went with him this time.

I often caught Touya staring blankly at the ceiling when I was trying to fall asleep. I nearly always fell asleep before he did.

We hadn't been outside since the night we ran, and I was starting to miss the sky. I discovered that if I pulled back the bottom flap of the curtain in Touya's bedroom, I could look out and see out the front to all the houses on the street. I found it quite relaxing, and sometime daydreamed while staring at the sky.

My favourite daydreams of late were of princes sweeping off into their far away castles. There weren't many children's book around here, so Touya often read me the same one. It had a gorgeous prince with fancy hair and a pretty white horse. I liked it a lot. I wondered if I'd ever find my prince, but then it occurred to me that I had no friends. This made me sad. I decided that Touya would be my prince, but we wouldn't get married. That would be gross. Touya definitely had cooties.

Watashi could be the king in the kingdom, I guessed. He was pretty cool, though he never really did anything but speak about smart stuff. However, I could completely imagine him owning a really big castle.

Aunt Sonomi would be the picky duchess. I couldn't view her as a queen. Queens were bubbly and gave motherly advice to children about following their hearts. The image of Aunt Sonomi saying that made me giggle. Then I stuck imaginary- Aunt- Sonomi in a big puffy dress and gave her a flamboyant up-do. The image was ridiculous. Aunt Sonomi had a very different style that her daughter's- our aunt preferred a sleek and glossy look, while Tomoyo enjoyed big bright gowns and puffy sleeves.

Personally, I liked Tomoyo's style better. When both she and I were done our schoolwork, she often sketched dresses out for me, and sent them to her tailor for him to make. Tomoyo hadn't learnt how to use a sewing machine yet. I was always overjoyed when a dress came back from the tailor's, and Tomoyo let me wear it. I asked her if I could keep a particularly pink dress, that had red hearts along the rim of the skirt, and she gladly agreed. I often wore it while daydreaming out the window.

It wasn't until a month or so later that I learned anything extra about our situation. I hadn't particularly worried about our situation up until then, because I really didn't care. I had Touya around all the time, and he distracted me from my sad memories. I still daydreamed at the window often.

I caught Aunt Sonomi talking with Watashi one day, and her voice was more serious than normal. I smirked a bit and scurried around a corner, then I plopped myself on the ground. I listened very carefully. I always found it fun to eavesdrop. You learned a lot of things. People don't tell things to three year olds, and if they won't tell you, then you've got to find out yourself. So I sat patiently, waiting for the knowledge that I seeked. I can't say that I had an idea of what knowledge I seeked, just knowledge in general.

"..told you not to tell the others! You disobeyed me, Watashi," I could hear Aunt Sonomi saying.

"I'm begging your pardon mam, but you've left me with too many responsibilities. I only told my most trusted employee."

"I decide who we trust around here." Aunt Sonomi spat. I could tell she was quite angry. She was normally known for keeping her cool, calm exterior. This made me even more eager to listen. Something really exciting must have happened.

"In all respect, he is my son. I trust him as much as I trust you." Watashi countered.

"My darling children are living in this house right now. The Organization is looking for them as we speak. At any moment, they could attack. At that moment, the fewer people who know that they are here, the better their chances are. Understood?" Aunt Sonomi scolded. The Organization was not something I'd heard of before. This was very interesting.

"Yes mam."

"They killed my sister and brother-in-law. They are attempting to take away the kids. They are equally as able to harm your son too. You have put him in danger."

"Y-yes mam."

"Never disobey me again, Watashi."

"Never again, mam."

I could tell that this was some sort of conclusion to their discussion, so I knew I had to make my exit. I took off the shoes I had been wearing and held them in my hands. Tip-toeing carefully backwards, keeping an eye on the direction they could approach me from, I backed away. When a safe distance was achieved, a distance where they wouldn't presume I could have heard them from, I replaced my shoes on my feet.

It was not a moment too soon. Aunt Sonomi had started to walk down the hallway I was in, and noticed that I was there. She walked over to me, peering questioningly.

"What are you doing here, darling?" she asked. "I did tell you to stay in your bedroom, or the hallway right in front of it."

Luckily, she didn't seem to suspicious of my presence, but I decided to pull an act just in case. I looked up at her and pouted.

"I was hungry, so I tried to get to the kitchens," I whined. I squished my eyes as though I was crying and continued, "but then I got lost. P-please help me. I was worried that I'd never get out."

Aunt Sonomi took pity on me and helped me get a snack from the kitchens. I inwardly cheered that I had gotten away with my plan.

That night, I joined my brother in looking aimlessly at the ceiling.

I wasn't sure what to make of the tidbit of information about the Organization. I still didn't know what that was. All I knew was that they killed our parents, and that they were looking for Touya and I.

This "Organization" killed my parents.

It was still a difficult concept to understand. Parents came for and stood by their children. Killing them made them unable to do that? Mommy and Daddy always came back, no matter what. Therefore, they couldn't be killed. However, everyone talked as though they were. It was too confusing.

The second thing that hit me was that they were looking for Touya. They were looking for my precious meanie of a brother. They were looking for me too, but I didn't understand what that really meant. All I knew was that if they were looking to take away my brother, it would mean that they were going to keep him away from me. That was bad. That was very bad.

I realized that the best person to deal with this problem would be the person in question: my brother. I rolled over to address him.

However, he was asleep.

He rarely fell asleep before me, so I was amazed. So this is what the sleeping face of my brother looks like, I thought. I considered drawing on it, but I didn't want to wake him. He would wake in the morning. I could talk about the Organization with him then.

A/N: I noticed a few of you followed this. Oh yay! My day is made. :D


	3. The Train

_Ooh boy. I was so naïve about the Organization back then. "Organization" still sounds excessively civilized for them._

_I never got around to confronting Touya about the Organization with him until the day of our second direct encounter with them. Obviously, our first encounter with them was the night of our parent's murder._

_Those bastards are a different sort of evil than the police. The Organization is little more than an organized team of talented thugs. _

_The police knew that the Organization existed. However, that's all they knew. The police know that they are very powerful, and that they are behind a lot of major crime in the country. Their motives, their location, and their members? They have no idea._

_I know more about the Organization than any other outsider has ever before. If I told these police about their inner secrets, I'm sure all of those who'd heard would die mysterious deaths. Would they kill me too? I have no idea. Technically they are trying to kill me all the time, and they haven't succeeded yet. My chances of survival might be pretty good._

_Still, I won't kill people with information, even if they've asked for it. I'm not that much of a cruel bitch._

_However, I should keep that trump card with me. Maybe I will find an excuse to set the Organization on the police. I shudder as I realize that I'm smiling at the thought._

_Fuck. These guys have really screwed me up. Smiling at pain: what am I? A sadist?_

_Oh well, I can deal with my apparent sadism later. I've got a story to write. I look over the lines that I'd already written, and I continue on._

"… we ran away. We stayed at a local park for six months.

We left the park, because the police were hanging around often. They were intimidating. Instead, Touya and I travelled to China, under the names Shang and Ling Fa respectively. We went to school at Wei Boarding School. They were unaware of who we really were.

_Good, good._

* * *

Touya and I didn't get to experience the oasis of our aunt forever. Five months after our parent's murder, I often overheard Aunt Sonomi and Watashi discussing multiple unwanted guests around the house. By the time six months had rolled by, Aunt Sonomi and Watashi were so busy that they didn't bother hiding their activities from us.

This meant that Touya knew information about the people looking for us. I still hadn't talked about the Organization with him, but he did know that the people who murdered our parents were constantly observing the house and that the police were suspecting the Daidouji family of hiding us.

While sitting on our bed, staring at the ceiling, we talked about what we should do about these dangers.

"Maybe we should run away?" I suggested. "Then we could be away from icky Watashi and his constant droning."

"The bad people will be there, even if we run away," Touya reasoned. "They found us here, what's to stop them from finding us elsewhere?"

"-But I haven't been outside in six months!" I pouted.

"Winter is starting soon," Touya argued. "Where would we go?"

"You can find somewhere. I know you can." I said, trying to appeal to his ego.

"We're still so young. You're only four, Sakura," Touya pleaded. I don't think he wanted us to go. He seemed extremely against the idea.

"We are hurting Aunt Sonomi. She doesn't hide the troubles from us anymore. Something is really wrong. If we leave, everything will surely be alright."

"I hope so, Sakura. I hope so."

The next week was a flurry of activity.

We weren't planning to run away; the flurry of activity was due to the attempts by the police to enter the house. However, Aunt Sonomi had hired fantastic lawyers, and the police could never find a strong enough reason to get permission to enter the house.

The people from the Organization that were there were much more passive. The only reason that Aunt Sonomi knew they were there was a few lucky sightings caught by Watashi.

These people scared Aunt Sonomi way more than the police. They evidently were talented in the art of camouflage, because they were rarely sighted. They had violently broken into my home before, and there was only extra security stopping them from breaking into Aunt Sonomi's place. I got the feeling that my aunt didn't know much about the Organization either, further adding to her uneasiness.

Nearing the end of the week, Aunt Sonomi pulled Touya and me aside to an empty room.

"There are a few things that I know that you two may find useful, but first, you must promise to be obedient to whatever I say," our aunt spoke, solemnly. I didn't know whether to agree or not, although my curiosity tempted be to, so I looked at Touya for the answer. He already had one prepared.

"We will do our best, Aunt Sonomi."

"That's all I can ask for," she responded, being uncharacteristically kind.

"I think it is time for you two to leave here. It is no longer a safe house to live in. Somewhere, anywhere else would be safer"

Touya and I shared a look. We had predicted this day would come, although Touya was set against it.

"After you leave, it could be a long time before I see you again, so I will pass on my information to you now."

I eagerly waited for what she would say. I somewhat doubted that I wouldn't know it already, but I loved surprises.

"There are people other than the police looking for you. An organization called the Organization is also situated around the house. They are searching for any information that can get their hands on about a certain part of your father's archaeology findings. I don't know what exactly. However, I am fairly sure that these people killed your parents."

I was a little shocked that our parent's murder had to do with my father's research. I'd never considered a motive for their murder before. Someone was to blame? It hadn't occurred to me that I could channel my frustration out on someone who was actually worthy of that suffrage. I would have to think more on this topic later.

"Whatever their reason is, they are armed and dangerous. You must leave this building. Watashi has gathered the identification of two young chinese children matching your descriptors. Using these, you will cross the border into China. At least, that will get you away from the Japanese police. I got these IDs from a reliable retailer, so you will be able to use them to enrol in the boarding school. Of course, we won't send you alone: Watashi will escort you there. He is very capable, so you can feel safe. However he will leave once you reach the city. All of the paperwork has been filled out for your enrolment, and they are under the impression that your parents don't speak Chinese and are working abroad"

This was a lot of information to process. However, somehow I managed to remember all of it.

This plan was executed later the same day that out aunt had the talk with us.

We didn't pack much. We wore two pairs of clothes on our back, had some packaged food in our pockets, a lot of money in any remaining crannies, and our family photo. This light load would allow us to travel quickly. Right as we left through a secret underground tunnel passage, Aunt Sonomi handed us Watashi's business card.

_Kouga Watashi_

_Jack of All Trades_

_555-5132_

"You can reach me through Watashi at any time. He is completely trustworthy. Believe in him," Aunt Sonomi assured us. Then she wrapped her arms around our heads and held us tight.

"Please be safe. Over everything else, please stay safe," she cried. I teared up too. Seeing my aunt in such a weakened state reminded me how risky this was.

So, Watashi, Touya, and I walked away, without turning back again. The next time I saw my aunt would be in entirely different circumstances.

I tore my mind away from leaving Aunto Sonomi, and focused on walking as fast as I could. Both Touya's and Watashi's legs were much longer than mine. I bit my lower lip in frustration, and started to jog to keep up with them. I hadn't completely mastered the art of running smoothly at that point in my life, so I tired very easily. There wasn't anyone chasing after us, so there was no adrenalin to help me out.

Watashi noticed my struggle, and knelt down to offer me a piggyback ride. I gladly accepted, and wrapped my arms around his neck for support. He stood back up, and Touya and he continued walking in silence.

The next thing I knew, we were in a train cart. I blinked open my eyes in surprise and gazed at the scenery whizzing across the window. A beautiful red sunset had formed, and I was in awe. An old castle was in the distance too, with a few horses grazing in the field surrounding it. Its beauty was too much and I just had to tell someone. I whipped around my head, and noticed that Touya was sitting next to me with his chair reclined slightly as he stared at the ceiling. I shook his shoulder.

"Touya. Touya! Come look! Come look!" I squealed. My smile reached the corners of my face. Touya hushed me.

"Careful. Our names are different now. You have to call my Shang now, like my ID says. Yours says Ling Fa. Unless we are in private, we must call each other by these names," he informed me. He was fingering our identification in his hands. I stared at it curiously, and wondered what it all meant.

"Why do our IDs have a bunch of gibberish on them?" I asked. This was perplexing. Maybe it was some code so that people couldn't steal them?

"Gibberish?" Touya asked, confused about my question. Then he seemed to realize what I meant. "That's not gibberish, Sa-, Ling Fa. That's Chinese. It's like Japanese, but for people from China."

"Really! That's so cool. How did you know that?" I cheered. It always reassured me when Touya knew everything. Then I remembered my original goal.

"Oh yah. Touya, Touya, Touya! Look out the window. Look out the window!" I said enthusiastically, while pointing to the window. I looked out the window too, and some of the smile dropped away from my face.

"That's quite the sunset out there," Touya agreed. He smiled a little, then he returned to looking at the ceiling. He forgot to correct me on using the wrong name. I had forgotten about the names already.

"There was a castle earlier. And the sky had much better colours. You're such a meanie for not looking right away. You missed it!" I complained. I let out a sound of distaste and crossed my arms over my chest, promising that I wouldn't speak to him for the rest of the ride. He rolled his eyes and smirked, then returned his gaze to the ceiling.

I waited and waited, watching the scenery passing by the window. No landscape was as nice as the one with the sunset. Sadly, in only a few minutes, the sky had turned pitch dark, and the scenery was invisible.

I woke up. I guessed that I had fallen asleep again. The train ride was really boring.

I was on Watashi's back, feeling the land of every step. Touya was walking next to him. I was quite uncomfortable, so I shifted around a little to get a better seat. However, Watashi had different plans. He knelt down and let me go, so I landed gently on my feet. I frowned a little at the fact I had to walk again. I was still feeling drowsy because I had only just woken up.

I hurried over to Touya's side and then walked with them. I had only walked a few steps, but it seemed like forever.

"Touya, are we there yet?" I asked.

"Ling Fa, my name is not Touya. Call me by my new name, so we can get used to it," Touya reminded. I searched my brain, but I couldn't remember at all what his new name was.

"Uh, your new name?" I stammered. I really didn't care about a name. What's so important about a name anyways?

"You weren't even listening the first time I told you, right?" he sighed. "Shang. My name is Shang. Shang Wu."

"Shang Wu." I tried out the syllables on my lips. They were odd. They didn't sound like words at all. Touya noticed my discomfort and confusion.

"They are Chinese names. Remember, like Japanese but for people from China? We call these different ways of speaking languages."

I'd heard that term before, "languages". I just never really understood what it meant. It made much more sense now.

"Oh! You are so smart, Touya," I praised him.

"Shang."

"Shang?"

"My name, Ling Fa."

"Who's Ling Fa?"

My brother put his hands to his face in frustration, or was it laughter.

"I am Shang. Call me by that name. You are Ling Fa. I will address you as that name now."

"Oh. OK," I responded. It would be weird calling Touya by anything other than "Touya". I didn't think that I would like it very much.

"Shang," I said again. It still sounded weird.

"What is it?" Touya asked, wondering why I addressed him.

"Oh. I was just sayin-" I was answering, right when Watashi cut us off.

"Don't change what you are doing, but someone is following us," Watashi informed us suddenly.

My heart dropped. People were following us? It reminded me of when the police officer was chasing us on the night of my parent's murder. Adrenalin started to flow into my veins. We were still walking, but I could feel a new stiffness in the atmosphere.

"You two are going to run when I say so. We are close to the boarding school," Watashi ordered us. "Touya, you already have the forms with you. Do not go to the boarding house right away. I want you to hide in the shed near the big sign. It is unlocked. Hide yourself as well as you can. Hide for as long as you can. No matter what, don't exit before the night is up. Do you understand?"

Both Touya and I nodded, too afraid to respond with our voices.

"Now," Watashi ordered in a harsh whisper.

Touya and I sprinted.

I didn't focus on the rapid increase in sound behind us. I didn't focus on the screams. I didn't focus on the strange smell of what almost smelled like flame. I didn't focus on them, but I could still feel them in every pore of my body.

We ran forward. We presumed that the boarding school was ahead of us. It might not have been the smartest idea, but it's all we had to work with in the moment. Fortunately, luck was with us that night. A huge sign bloomed in front of us.

**~ Wei Boarding School ~**

We didn't take any time to admire the sign, and immediately ran to a small storage shed next to it. We got to its door, and checked behind our shoulders frantically. No-one was looking from what we could see. Touya violently tugged the door open, and pushed me slightly more gently inside. He followed, and closed the door behind him.

Any light that had entered the shed before was lost as the door closed. It was pitch black. I was panicking, and my breath started to speed up from its already heightened pace. Luckily, a light returned to the room, startling me slightly, while also comforting me. I looked around to find its source.

Touya was holding a tiny flashlight, and was looking furiously around the shed. It was filled with gardening and soccer equipment. He seemed to find what he was looking for, and grabbed my hand.

"We are going to underneath that pile of soccer jerseys over there. Remember where they are. I am going to turn off the light. It isn't safe to have it on," Touya informed me in the lightest of whispers.

I was scared of the darkness, but Touya's hand in mine comforted me enough not to start hyperventilating again. We lead each other blindly to the pile of soccer jerseys, and draped them over each other. Luckily we were both small, so there were enough to cover both of us, and still look like a pile. Just in case, I heard Touya rattling some larger tools to place on top of us. I considered warning him to be quiet, but I was more scared of silence than the noise.

Eventually, the silence came. I placed my hand on Touya's, as we both lay there under a pile of jerseys. My palm was very sweaty but I didn't care. All I could think about was the footsteps that I could always hear approaching, that never actually came. These footsteps never stopped. It was like a continuous nightmare.

I realized that Touya's hand had gone limp, and that he had probably fallen asleep. I decided that while he slept, I would keep guard. I was a big four year old now. I could take care of my brother.

Morning eventually came, from what I could see of the light creeping in the cracks around the door. I hadn't fallen asleep. At least, I didn't think I had fallen asleep. No-one had entered the shed. At one point, many footsteps passed by, but the door was left untouched. That moment put the adrenalin back into my veins. I shuddered when I remembered the footsteps that weren't part of my imagination.

Touya's hand twitched slightly, so I decided that he was probably waking up. I squeezed his hand a little tighter, to remind him that I was there. Moving my hand muscles reminded me that I, too, was lying under a pile of jerseys on a hard, clammy floor. Suddenly, I noticed that every muscle in my body ached. I didn't cry though. I wouldn't let Touya see my pain.

Touya sat up, and the jerseys fell from around his head. He rubbed his eyes.

"It's morning?" he murmured.

"Uh-huh, Tou-…Shang. No-one came last night," I told him. I felt proud for keeping guard all night. I sat up too.

"You stayed up all night?" Touya asked, the surprise evident on his face.

"Yup!" I answered proudly. I smiled brilliantly.

"Not bad for a monster," Touya teased. My smile quickly turned into a deep frown as I stuck my tongue out.

"You great big meanie!" I squealed at him. I was going to complain more about him, but a yawn interrupted me. My eyes watered a bit, so I rubbed them with the back of my sleeve.

"You really _did_ stay up all night, didn't you?" he said, as though he hadn't understood the first time. "We should get you into the school. They will have a room for us, for sure."

We stood up, and attempted to put the jerseys and gardening tools back where they belonged. Peeking out the door, Touya checked to see if the course was clear. Beckoning me to follow him, we exited the shed, and closed the door gently behind us.

Touya turned around and stared at me for a moment

"You look terrible, Monster," Touya laughed as he petted down my hair. It must have been full of static from the jerseys. Taking a closer look at Touya, I noticed that he had two leaves sitting in his ruffled hair. I giggled.

"What is it?" Touya asked. I reached up my hands to his head.

"Bend over for a sec, Touya," I ordered, still giggling a bit. He complied, and I removed the leaves from his hair. "You're so goofy."

Touya, seeing the leaves in my hands smiled too.

"Thanks. Now let's go to the main office and get properly registered."


	4. Wei's Boarding School

A/N: I'm using French just for this chapter to represent Chinese. This is supposed to represent the gibberish that Sakura is hearing. After this chapter, I'm just going to write Chinese with English and explain when Sakura is confused.

I'm also going to start using the Xs for page breaks because the old ones weren't formatting well. Thanks for reading! Also, I love reviews. None of you have reviewed so far, but it's OK. Enjoy!

XxXxXxXxXx

The registration process was really boring. It seems like they already had everything ready for us. They had their Japanese language teacher to escort us to our separate rooms. They had two sets of uniforms prepared for us. I changed into it; I had been told that I would start my first day today, because it was already morning. We didn't have anything to unpack, so we didn't need time before starting school. Touya was in a different room, but I was told that I'd see him during mealtimes.

The Japanese teacher had left me, after showing me the location of the classroom, and how to get to it from my room. I tried to remember the route as well as I could. Luckily, it wasn't too far away.

I stood and stared at the classroom door. It was rather daunting, the idea of entering an entirely new class, with entirely new people.

I knocked. Footsteps came to the door, and it opened. A tall man looked down on me. For a moment he looked serious, but then he smiled.

"Ah bonjour! Vous êtes la nouvelle étudiante, oui? Entrez, entrez!" he said, jovially. My mind reeled. Language! I had forgotten about the language! I followed his grand gestures and entered the room. Tons of eyes landed on me. I looked down, feeling shy.

"Voici notre nouvelle amie, Ling Fa Wu. Elle est arrivée au Chîne hier. Elle ne comprend pas la chînois, mais nous la aiderons à l'apprendre," he said, and the class clapped. I really had no clue what he said. I did notice that he said my new name, so I didn't think that I had to introduce myself to the class myself. Just in case, I looked at him, making sure that I would catch any hints of what he meant.

He said some more stuff, and my mind was filled with sounds I never heard before. I sure hoped that I started to undertand this language a bit.

Suddenly his hand was placed on my shoulder, and I was startled. The class giggled, and I blushed. The teacher seemed to say a warning to the class, then he pointed toward an empty seat near the front, but next to the window. I presumed that he meant for me to walk over there, so I hustled over and sat down.

He smiled and started teaching.

XxXxXxXxXx

_I smile a little as I rememebr how horrified I was at this simple thing called language. Oh, back in the days when I was still innocent. Well, actually, in a sense I had already lost my innocence, but I didn't know it yet. Haha, fuck it._

_I'm not writing any more just yet. I'm not sure that many informative events happened around then. Well, I guess I did learn some Chinese. Why the hell would the police care about me learning Chinese._

_Oh wait. They might think that "learning Chinese" is a code for something, It could really screw them over. I know they are going to pick apart whatever I write in order to find out as much as they can about my history anyways. Giving them a red herring or two couldn't hurt._

_I write it down_

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I managed to keep up with the class for the rest of the day, not in education, but in location at least. Eventually, lunch came, and all the grades gathered into the ginormous school cafeteria. I looked around excitedly for Touya, and couldn't find him. It was a big cafeteria, I thought, he might just be hiding behind something.

So I looked again. This time I was more lucky. I spotted him sitting alone in the back corner of the cafeteria, already eating his food. I jumped and waved frantically, while shouting, "Shang. Shang!"

I had remembered to use his new name, and I felt proud of myself. He didn't notice me, so I started to head toward him.

However, a hand on my arm stopped me. I looked behind me, and one of the other students in my class had there hand there. I looked at them questioningly. They gestured to the cafeteria serving counters.

I hadn't gotten my food yet, because the youngest grades arrived for food last. At least, as far as I could tell, the youngest grades arrived last. I presumed that we were waiting for food.

I nodded a thanks to her, and tried to stutter out what I thought was a thank-you in Chinese.

"M-merci," I stuttered. The student smiled and let go of my arm.

I stood with my classmates restlessly, consantly looking over at my brother, who hadn't noticed me yet. I let out a noise of frustration.

Eventually, my class got to the counter, and we all recieved plates of food. I tugged gently on the sleeve of the person who had stopped me before, and pointed at my brother. I wanted to know if I was finally allowed to go join them. The student smiled, and gestured that I could. I cheered a bit and pranced over.

I sat excitedly down on the table, across from where he was sitting. He started, and looked up. He smiled when he recognized that it was just me.

"Oh, there you are, Ling Fa. How are you doing?" he asked nicely. It was such a relief to hear Japanese again. I jiggled up and down in my seat with excitement.

"I don't understand anything. The teacher seems nice, but he doesn't speak Japanese. He gave me the seat next to the window, though! It's very pretty outside. I think the class likes me well enough. There was one kid who helped me out-" I continued on. I finally got to speak to someone properly after being silent for so long. I really missed Japanese.

"Woah, woah. Hold on there. It's not a race. You should eat your food first, then tell me about your day later. If I'm not mistaken, we still have another thirty-five minutes to eat," Touya said. I made a sound of dissappointment again, but then I realized how hungry I was. The food didn't look too bad.

I started eating. Talking to Touya could wait for a few minutes.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

School continued on peacefully for many months. I had started to pick up some Chinese finally. People hadn't talked to me much, before I decided to take a chance and try to answer a question in class. After that, people learned that I wasn't so different from themselves. It was nice.

They told me that I sounded funny, and sometimes they asked for me to speak in Japanese. They seemed to really enjoy listening to a different language than Chinese.

Every once in a while, the other students would laugh at me when I spoke. I wasn't not sure why. I thought it was because I said something wrong. However, no-one would correct me, so I wasn't sure if that was really it.

I didn't make any friends in particular. I was just sort of nice to everyone. I ate lunch with Touya every day, when most people ate with their friends. Touya didn't eat with his friends either.

The sleeping arrangements were OK. On one side, I was used to sleeping in the same bed as Touya for a long time. However, that was impossible at the school. I felt a little lonely.

On the other hand, I was quite comforted by sleeping in a room with a bunch of people. Hearing everyone's breaths reminded me that I had people around me. I wasn't sure why that was so comforting, but in any case, it was. Also, many of the girls were afraid of the dark, so there were always nightlights on. As much as the dark did not scare me all the time, the lights let me see all the other peaceful people

XxXxXxXxXxXx

One day, a girl in my class approached me while blushing furiously. I was a little confused, but I got ready to try to understand the Chinese that was sure to exit her mouth in moments.

"L-Ling Fa," she stuttered, "Your brother's pretty cute."

"Not cute. Meanie," I said simply. I couldn't say anything more complicated. However, I prided myself in understanding everything she said.

"Could you, maybe, introduce me to him?" she asked, then she ducked her head. I remembered that her name was Xiang Wang.

"Y-yes," I responded hesitantly. I wanted to ask her why, but I really had no idea what words to use to say it. Luckily, Touya was picking up Chinese quicker than I was. I suspected that he was studying it intensely. Hopefully he could talk with this girl better than I could.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

At lunch, after recieving our food, I took Xiang to Touya. He looked at me a bit curiously when he saw me approaching with someone, but he smiled anyways.

"She said she wanted me to introduce her to you," I said in Japanese to Touya. Then I carried on in Chinese, "Xiang, this is my brother Shang, Shang Wu. Shang, this is my classmate, Xiang, Xiang Wang."

Luckily, our class had a period where we studied how to do a formal greeting. That's why I was able to say such complete sentences without too much problem. I smiled with pride.

My brother stood up and walked around the table, extending his hand for a handshake.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," he greeted, smiling politely. However, instead of shaking his hand, Xiang grabbed it and held it close to her chest.

"I really like you!" she whined. My mind was confused. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought that Touya was just confessed to.

However, my brother's face reddened a bit, and I realized that I had, just in fact, witnessed a confession to him. I found it a little bit funny. This girl was crazy for liking my brother. Who could like such a meanie like him?

She continued to clinging to his arm, and Touya looked distinctly uncomfortable. I giggled a bit, then I stopped myself. I owndered if it was mean of me to Xiang if I giggled, so I stopped. Touya still hadn't responded yet.

"Uhh. I- uhh. Thank-you?" he stuttered, evidently at a loss for words. I know if I'd have done something like that, he would have called me a monster and laughed at me. It made me feel good to know I was special.

Despite Touya's attempts the girl didn't let go. It was not until I mentioned that there was only ten minutes left of lunch that she let go and ran away. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"The look on your face was so funny!" I laughed at Touya. He was very embarassed, and didn't have any words to say. Even though I was careful about laughing at Xiang earlier, I really didn't care about laughing at my brother. Sometimes the people who know everything need to be laughed at, I thought.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

After lunch, in our classroom, everything proceeded as per normal. I sat in my window seat, staring out the window, and the teacher droned on about something or other. However, the people around me started to shift in their seats, and the noise was noticable. I looked away from the window, and noticed that everyone was staring at someone sitting in the middle of the room.

I peered over, and noticed that Xiang was crying. I was really puzzled, until I remembered that my brother had not been very kind to her at lunch. Still, it was expected that he was mean. Was that any reason to cry?

The teacher had been droning on this whole time, but finally found this disturbance too distracting and called on her.

"Xiang Wang, please stand up," he said sternly. He was normally not this serious. Xiang stood up, with tears still in her eyes.

"Explain to me why you are disturbing my class, Miss Wang."

"It's all her fault!" she whined, shaking a bit.

"Whose fault, Miss Wang. Speak up."

"Ling Fa's fault. She laughed at me. She's mean!" Xiang cried. I was shocked. I didn't mean to laugh at her. The situation with my brother was just funny.

"Ling Fa Wu, please stand," the teacher ordered, and I shakily got to my feet. "Did you laugh at Miss Wang?"

"Y-yes," I stuttered. I was a little scared. I didn't like standing out in the class. Too many people were looking at me.

"Did you apologize?" he asked.

"No," I responded.

"Please apologize to Miss Wang."

"I'm sorry, Xiang Wang," I apologized.

"Both of you may sit," the teacher offered, although it was definitely an order. Xiang and I sat down, and my cheeks flushed.

"Remember, children. Don't disturb others with your personal issues, especially if you haven't dealt with them directly with the person. I don't want to see this happen again," he warned. The class nodded submissively.

"Now that we are on the subject of bad behaviour, there is a topic that I've been meaning to bring up," he said. All of us had our eyes glued to him. "Recently, there has been a rumour that local delinquents have been on the search for Japanese children. I have heard you spread it, and I am dissappointed in all of you."

There are delinquents out looking for Japanese people? What are "delinquents"? I thought to myself, quite startled by the situation.

"This rumour has nothing to do with Miss Wu here, and I would like it not to be discussed. All children in my class are good children. The Japanese children that they are looking for are bad children. In order for bad people to look for you, you have to be bad yourself. If you stay within the law, you will be safe."

I finally figured out what "delinquents" meant from its context, and I was quite displeased. I was fairly sure that the people who murdered my parents would fall under this "delinquent" category. They were bad people, and so were delinquents.

However, I couldn't understand his logic of being safe as long as you stay within the law. That was a lie. I hadn't been safe, and I never broke rules. I teared up a little bit. I wished that I had been safe. I really wished I could have been safe. I wasn't. It wasn't as simple as he was making it.

"Miss Wu? You too, now? Stand up," he ordered. I was really disliking how bossy this teacher was. I stood up. I was starting to get angry, as well as sad. "Please explain why you are disturbing my class again, Miss Wu."

"Y-you don't know," I stammered. I was having troubles finding what Chinese words to use. "Good does not equal safe. I am not safe. My parents were not safe. I hide. Stop hurting me."

I hoped that I said everything that I meant to say. No-one was laughing, so I must have done something right. I had stopped crying, and instead focused my intention on giving the teacher the worst glare I could muster.

I seemed to have stumped the teacher a bit. Nonetheless, he kept his cool and continued on his normal procedure.

"You may sit, Miss Wu," he ordered, and I sat. "Now to continue on what I was saying before-"

He continued on his ridiculous speech about good "citizens" and safety. I blocked it out. I wasn't sad anymore, so I didn't cry; I was angry. I was angry that he wouldn't listen. I was angry that I was ignored. I was angry that what he said wasn't true, no matter how much a wished that it was.

Throughout the afternoon, the teacher would make eyes at me. I wasn't sure what they meant, but they meant something. Maybe he was confused or maybe suspicious. Anyways, I decided to talk to Touya at dinner about what happened in the class.


	5. A Pickup Truck

A/N: One review… One review would be nice. Anyone?

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Dinner rolled around, and I picked up my food and walked to the our table. Touya greeted me like normal, and I sat down after returning his greeting.

"Shang, the teacher was telling us that in order to be safe, we had to be good. I told him that it doesn't work like that, and then he stared at me forever," I explained, but Touya cut me off before I could say my next sentence.

"You didn't tell them who you were, right?" Touya asked urgently. I was surprised by his panick, but I answered anyway.

"No. I just told them that our parents and us weren't safe, even though we were good. Oh, and that we still weren't safe"

"We should get out of here. We should get out of here right now. Come with me," Touya ordered, and took my hand to walk promptly to the hallway.

"Wait, Touya. Wait! What's going on?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You've heard about the bad people looking for us, right? They will surely find us now. Teachers talk about this sort of stuff, then teachers talk to other people. They will know that we are here," Touya explained. I didn't understand how the bad people would know. I didn't tell them; I had only told my class. Nonetheless, I decided to take Touya's advice and follow him.

We were intercepted by the hall monitor on our way to our dorm rooms.

"What are you two doing out here during meal time?" the dorm monitor asked accusingly.

"My sister has a stomach flu. I was escorting her to her dormroom," Touya explained in a heartbeat. I was in awe of my brother's fast lie creation. It was so cool. The dorm monitor eyed me, and I remembered that I was supposedly sick.

"Ooh. Urg," I groaned, hoping it would fool the monitor. I made sure to scrunch up my face in pain, to add to the overall effect of the act. Although he looked dubious, he let us through.

We headed straight to my dorm, where I changed into the clothes that I had arrived at the school wearing, and my outdoor shoes. I also remembered to grab the family photo, which had been dutifully placed on my nightstand previously.

Afterwards, we headed for Touya's dorm, making extra sure not to run into any hall monitors. Luckily,

everyone was busy eating, so no-one was wandering the halls. I wasn't wearing my uniform anymore, so there was no way we could pass off that we weren't doing anything suspicious.

Touya changed into his clothes and outdoor shoes too, then we made a beeline for the exit.

Once outside, I wondered where we were actually going to run to. We didn't have anywhere to go. We didn't have a plan. We didn't have any supplies. We didn't have anyone waiting for us, on an escort to take us there.

Without any information to work from, I decided to run in the direction that we had arrived from all those months ago. It was the only way that we were at all familiar with. However, Touya ran in a slightly different direction,

There was no way that I was not going with Touya, so I changed my course to match his. I was curious of where we were going. Looking ahead, I saw the small parking lot of the school. It was normally used by the teachers and the school buses whenever we went on a class trip. There were only a few cars there. However, they were all really shiny, making me think that they were nice cars. I didn't know much about cars.

It only took us a few moments to get to the parking lot, and immediately Touya started to prowl between the few cars. He seemed to be looking for something.

He seemed to find what he wanted, because he started fiddling with the doors of a black car. I couldn't see what he was doing, because he was crouched over it. In a moment, he had the door open, and sat in the drivers seat.

"What are you doing, Shang?" I questioned, slightly out of breath from the short sprint we had just done. There wasn't much excersize for a five-year-old in a boarding school.

"Getting us a fast way to escape. Also, call me Touya. It seems that we shouldn't bother with our fake names anymore," he explained. I had not noticed that I had called him by his fake name. 'Shang' had become a second nature to me. I hadn't stopped calling him Touya in my head, so it's not like I forgot his name.

I didn't understand how getting into a car could get us a fast way to escape. I mean, he was only twelve; he couldn't drive. Maybe he had a driver ready for us?

"Heck yeah. I got it! Get in the passenger door, Sakura. We are going for a ride," Touya cheered. I was still really confused, but I hustled around to the other door and hopped in. I sat in the chair, and asked a question.

"Who is driving us, Sha- Touya?" I asked, stumbling over his name. I frowned at my mistake. However, I was really curious of what the plan was. I mean, how did Touya get this car? Where were we going to? Who was gonna come drive us?

"Watch and learn, Sakura. Watch and learn," Touya said. I was annoyed. I just wanted an explanation. He was being difficult and arrogant as always.

Suddenly, the car began to move, and I jumped. That was very surprising. The car was not supposed to move without a driver.

Then I noticed Touya's hands on the wheel, and a crazed smile on his face.

"No way! You're driving?" I squealed. "You are the coolest brother ever!"

"I know," he said cockily, and he smirked.

"Since when?"I queeried, my pride of him blooming in my chest.

"I didn't spend all those months in school learning nothing, y'know. There was a computer lab provided to all the older grades. It didn't take much to get the information I wanted out of them. It turns out that none of the internet monitors speak Japanese."

"Can you teach me? Can you teach me?" I squeeled again. I didn't know anything about cars. All I knew is that they were big and fast and loud and had a huge presence. Things that were big and dramatic were awesome. If I had the power to control something like that, I would be the coolest person ever!

"No, Sakura. It's too dangerous for five-year-olds. Speaking about danger, I've never actually driven a car before, so I should probably focus. Stay silent for a while," he advised. I wasn't scared at all of the danger. My brother had never failed me before. If there was ever a time I felt safe, it was around my brother. Now he even had these super awesome car skills.

We had only been driving for a minute, and we had been swerving across the road, which was the coolest feeling ever. Suddenly, I noticed sirens in the distance, and the sound was rapidly increasing.

"Are we being chased?" I asked, breaking the short silence between us.

"Uh, yeah. Shh. I need to think."

I felt properly scolded, and was quiet again. I turned around in my seat to see the thing I did not want to see the most; a little ways down the straight road we were driving on, was a police car, with lights flashing.

"How far away?" Touya quickly asked. I didn't really know how to answer this question, because I didn't know any ways to measure distance. I thought quickly, and decided on a different method.

"At that barn we passed," I responded. I thought that was a decent way to answer. I mean, what else was I supposed to say. Hopefully Touya had taken note of when we had passed the barn, so he would get the reference. Luckily, he did.

"Damn it. They're pretty close," Touya swore. He never swore, and I was shocked. Was this situation dangerous after all? I mean, it had all seemed pretty fun up to here. Also, back at the barn was not pretty close at all. They looked far away to me. They were travelling pretty fast though. Perhaps they would catch up.

"Whoo! Drive faster, Touya!" I hollered. "This is so much fun!"

"I got it! A plan, that is," Touya announced. I was curious. "I need your help with this."

I nodded, then I noticed that he wasn't actually looking at me, so I responded verbally.

"Sure."

"See that handle on your door? Pull it, but don't push the door open. When I say 'now', I want you to hold on to me as well as you can. Can you do that?"

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" I acknowledged his plan. This all sounded so exciting. These police were freaking me out though. I loved things that were loud and flashy. The police cars were loud and flashy, but they felt entirely different.

Instead of being surprising and exciting, they were just a constant wall of visual and audible noise. These weren't exciting. They were drawling and sharp. They were threatening and arrogant. They chased us without reason. They were simultaneously unpredictable and predictable; they came from nowhere, but now that they were here, there was no way they were ever going to leave. I decided right then and there that I was going to hate the police. They had no right to infringe on my life. 'Good is safe' was disproved by the very things the teacher counted on as what caused us to be safe.

I noticed that our car was approaching an overpass, and I started to understand what Touya's plan was. The overpass was surrounded with big whooping trees, and there was steady traffic on the street below. I felt a strange exhilaration, and I couldn't help but look forward to what was going to happen. Who cares about the police? We'll get away just fine. Everything will surely be alright.

That phrase caused me a bit of déjà vu, and I flashed back to the last night I saw my Daddy. He said those exact words to me, 'Everything will surely be alright'. They were kind of hypnotizing. I rather liked the ring of it.

I popped the door open by pulling the handle, but I didn't let the door swing open. Success.

The overpass was quickly approaching, and I could see Touya's body tense up.

The next moment, Touya had grabbed me by the waist, and we were rolling down the hill right before the overpass, through the bushes and trees. I could feel scratches appear on my revealed arms and face, but I didn't care. That was awesome. I could take the pain that came with it.

The hill became less steep, and our tumbling bodies bumped slower and slower. When they stopped, I was quite disoriented. I sat up and briefly inspected the tiny cuts around my body. They were really small, so I just ignored them.

Through the shrubbery, I could faintly see the black car continue down that perfectly straight road, without any drivers in it. In my amazement, I still realized that we needed to keep moving. I stood up before Touya did, and ushered him to stand up too.

"Keep your eyes peeled for a truck. Preferably a pickup truck. Holler if you see one," Touya ordered.

Suddenly the sirens increased exponentially behind us to a mind numbing volume. In just a moment, they had started to fade away. The police had drive right by us. Once again, I felt ridiculous pride, not just for Touya, but for the both of us.

I kept my eyes peeled for a pickup truck. I was feeling lucky, I knew that a pickup truck would come. There was no way that we were suddenly going to stop being lucky now.

Sure enough, a bright blue pickup truck drove toward us, on our side of the rode. I couldn't help but think about how awesome we were.

"Are you ready, Sakura? We're going to jump on the back," Touya said. I had already guessed that. Luckily, the traffic was moving more slowly than the road we were on earlier because it was more winding and busier. It approached us and, with a running start we ran in the same direction that the pickup truck was heading. We had to get on the back of the truck, so we needed to approach running from the back. It approached us from behind, and in a split second decision, we jumped and grabbed onto the back lip of the pickup truck's back.

It was very difficult to keep my hold on the vibrating vehicle, but I wrapped my entire upper body over the top of the lip. I had a pretty firm hold over the lip, with my lower body on the outside and my upper body on the outside. I didn't check on Touya. I was busy concentrating.

Arms grabbed me under my armpits and lifted me forward. Into the back of the truck.

I hoped that the driver hadn't noticed us. Touya put his head up for a moment to check what I had just wondered. From his reaction, I presumed that we hadn't caused the driver to take notice. We were still children, so our weight didn't cause the car to bounce at all.

While Touya was checking for people who may have noticed us in the front, I checked in the back. Luckily, the driver behind us was busy eating something. I couldn't tell what exactly, but I could tell that it was in his face, and definitely distracting.

I knew that we had to hide. Every time after we ran, we had to hide. That was just the way things went.

I looked at the contents of the pickup truck. They were huge, bulging piles of trash. Pleasant. Even though it was gross, we both knew what we had to do.

We crawled to the back of the pile of trash, closest to the driver. I poked a few of the bags, but they all seemed to contain really spiky things. I suspected the bag closest to me was filled with squished soda cans, and the bag to my right to contain some form of small appliances. I really didn't want to hut myself, but there was only hard trash.

"Yes! Come over here, Sakura." Touya said. We couldn't lower our voices, because the wind was too loud. I looked over to him, and I suspected that he had found a bag of trash that was less dangerous than on my end. I started to crawl over to him and the truck took a sharp turn. I fell over, thankfully only hitting a flat end of one of the appliances in that bag of trash.

I finally reached him, and I noticed that he had torn a hole in a bag that contained used paper plates. I guessed that the plates had contained pizza, because there were uneaten crusts in the bottom of the bag. At least paper plates weren't sharp.

I grimaced and crawled into the bag, navigating myself properly into the hole with the help of Touya. It reeked in there. I rotated and took control of the hole from Touya, who I expected was going to go find a bag to hide in. I pulled my hole down over my face, and decided to keep my nose poking out slightly. It was too gross otherwise.

I heard Touya moving a bag, so he must have found himself a bag. I was glad. I wasn't sure how much longer the truck driver behind us was going to focus on eating, but even the largest of meals run out eventually.

I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. I could feel the constant stead rumble of the pickup truck underneath my body. It was comforting, because it was steady in a non-threatening way. Also, Touya was right next to me, and I knew that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. I was safe, and I had this powerful vehicle driving me away from those police.

Also, my nose was not in this bag. That definitely was a plus.

I wondered if the police had noticed that we were no longer in the car. I mean, Touya was swerving back and forth enough as it was. If we weren't in the car anymore, I'm not sure if they would notice the odd behaviour for a while

The truck started slowing down and I suddenly got worried that we were reaching our destination. Would we be thrown into a garbage heap? I didn't want to become garbage! I wanted to grow old and meet a prince.


	6. Garbage Bags

A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter. I'm sorry if things are getting a bit rambly. I wrote this story during a word marathon. I believe, when Sakura gets older, to 10 years old or so, then the action will pick up. I'll likely make that into a sequel that will be able to stand alone. However, I think that tiny Sakura is pretty cute, so stick aroudn if you're enjoying it!

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Even though the truck was slowing, it took a long time for it to stop. I didn't know much about driving, but I was pretty sure that you wouldn't slowdown that much before reaching your destination. Maybe there was something blocking the road?

I heard sirens again, and I froze. They'd found us? The truck was stopped, and it sounded like someone was talking to the driver.

"All vehicles passing this point are being searched. This is routine. There is nothing out of the ordinary, and it will only take a minute of your time," a man said to the driver.

They were checking the car. This was not good. I tucked my nose back into the garbage bag, and sat as still as possible. I didn't want him to find me or Touya. I was pretty sure that they wouldn't find Touya. He wouldn't have hid in a bad spot.

The floor of the pickup truck bounced up and down for a moment and I figured someone had jumped into the back with us. I heard the sounds of garbage bags being ruffled, and their contents disturbed.

It took all my effort not to jump as the paper plates above me were suddenly jiggled. I was sitting at the bottom, and wasn't touched. I was suddenly scared. I didn't want to be caught. The people who wanted to catch us were the policemen. Policemen were mean. Therefore, I did not want to be caught.

Bags were shaken and the sound continued. Eventually, the floor of the truck shook again, and I hoped that the man had jumped out. The sound had stopped too, so I was pretty sure that was the case.

"Thank-you for your co-operation, sir. You are free to go."

I sighed with relief. I waited until the truck had sped up to its original speed to poke my nose out of the bag again. The smell of old pizza had been overwhelming. I only started to notice it again after the man had jumped out. I think I may have stopped breathing when he was walking up there, shaking bags.

I was falling asleep in a crouched position, when suddenly a bag shook. I started violently. I poked my eyes out the hole, and saw my brother excavate himself from his bag. He beckoned to me, so I slowly peeled myself out of my bag to join him. I could smell the old pizza on my clothes. Touya was a mess too. I think he had put himself in a bag of cups. One was stuck to his pant leg, and he was covered in drips of dark liquid. I suspected it was pop. As I got closer to him, I noticed his stench. It was definitely Coca-Cola. That was gross.

We had left the school at dinner time. It was summer, so it was only just starting to get dark. However, dark would surely come soon.

The truck was still moving, and the wind was refreshing. I took a deep breath of the fresh air. Then, I got back to the task at hand.

"We are going to jump," Touya announced. I felt the excitement flowing in my body again. This was so cool! "When you jump, curl yourself is a loose ball, and try to use the backs of your arms and your feet to break the roll. You go first. Oh, and make sure to protect your neck. Protect your neck at all costs."

I didn't take too much time to think about it. I just jumped.

The world fell from around my feet, and I felt the sharp pain of my body hitting the dirt beside the road. I rolled over with the momentum. I was dizzy.

When I finally got my bearings, I saw Touya lying on the side of the road, breathing heavily. I was sure he was fine. I stood up, and walked shakily over to him.

We escaped successfully.

But what now?

I had forgotten to check if the vehicle that had been driving behind the pickup truck was paying attention, and might have seen us escape. However, looking down the road, I was able to see the back of the pickup truck. The vehicles behind it must have gone down a different road. Other than the garbage, we sure had been lucky. I felt powerful for a moment, and then I smelled the pizza stench. That ruined my mood.

Touya suddenly took me into a great bear hug, and I could feel him shaking. I grabbed him back, wondering why he was suddenly giving me this display of affection. No matter what the reason, it was always nice being in his arms.

His shoulders started quaking up and down, and I realized that he was crying. I was a little shocked. To the best of my knowledge, Touya hadn't cried since the night of our parents' murder. I thought that maybe he was acting more emotional than he really was so that I would feel better. However, I wasn't sad at all. I was quite happy with myself.

Touya's bear hug was starting to hurt my side, where I had just impacted with the side of the road. I squirmed. I didn't say anything. I didn't want Touya to stop hugging me if he wanted to. It was nice feeling safe. He helped me out all the time and kept me safe, returning his hug was the best I could do.

It had only been a minute that Touya had been crying, and he released me and wiped away the remnants of tears.

"I'm so so glad that you are OK, Sakura," Touya muttered. Had he been worried about me? I was just fine! Well, my side hurt a bit, but the excitement of it all was just awesome.

"Don't worry about me. We're good!" I cheered, trying to cheer him up. "You were so awesome back there! I don't even know what happened, but that was so exciting. We fooled those policemen. Those stupid policemen!"

Touya hadn't smiled until my final words. I was relieved. Sad Touya should be Happy Touya. I could let Thoughtful Touya alone, but Sad Touya, no way.

"You are so cute Sakura. Thank-you. You're right. Everything will surely be alright," Touya agreed. He stepped away from me and looked around. "Perhaps I should have thought out our drop off more thoroughly. Where do we go now?"

I don't know why he was asking me, but I had no clue. We were standing on the edge of an empty road, surrounded by trees. There weren't that many trees, so you could see a fair distance. However, nothing could be seen but trees, road, and dirt. It was getting dark fast. Touya jumped a little bit as he discovered a plan.

"I got it! Be quiet for a sec, Sakura, and tell me what you hear."

I nodded. I closed my eyes and scrunched my face together in concentration. I heard a bird. I heard a… bird. I could only hear a bird. I opened my eyes, and noticed a smile on Touya's face.

"What is it, Touya? All I can hear is a bird," I complained.

"Listen closer. Can't you hear the city? We are close. I think it's down the road in the same direction the pickup truck was going."

I was a little confused. What did a city sound like, anyways? Nonetheless, I closed my eyes and listened again. Thankfully, the bird had stopped chirping. I picked up on a little something. It was a low roar. It was a constant static. It was a siren. I shuddered.

"Are you cold?" Touya asked, worried.

"No. It's just- It's just there's a siren. There are police," I explained, in a sad tone. I really wasn't looking forward to going anywhere closer to police.

"Don't worry. We're far away from the last police. These guys might be nicer. Since when did you become so afraid of the police?"

"Since they never stop. Since they'll follow us forever. Since they won't leave us alone," I whined. My eyes stung a bit, but I refused to let myself cry. I bit down on my bottom lip and looked up challengingly.

"I see. We'll be OK. Let's just start walking for now. We'll talk on the way."

We walked for a really long time. My legs were tired. The adrenelin was gone. I just wanted to sleep. I was hungry too. The rotten pizza smell was just gross. At this moment, however, even that stench could not hinder my hunger.

"Are we there yet?" I whined. I was bored. Touya and I had talked for a short while, but our exhaustion was getting the better of us. Now we walked in silence. Well, silenece except the interruptions I was making every few minutes.

"No, Sakura. Not yet," was his perpetual answer.

There was no sunlight hitting us at all anymore. The only light we had to go by was the moon. We navigated by the feel of either the road or the dirt beneath our feet, and the dim shadows of the trees to our right. Not a single vehicle had passed by us; there were no headbeams to light the way.

I couldn't hear even the faintest buzz from the city anymore. I figured that everyone had gone to sleep. Sleep. I could have slept right then. I hadn't slept in a long time. Too long, in fact.

My steps became shorter and shorter, and my movement became slower and slower. Touya stayed next to me, so I figured that his gait was shortening too. We weren't going anywhere fast. I was starting to believe that we would never reach anywhere, ever.

A tiny light appeared, as a tree moved out of our perspective. Another light and another one appeared. A sparkly haze of heaven appeared on the horizon.

"Touya! Touya! I can see it. We are almost there," I cheered. No-one was around, so I didn't bother to watch my volume. I had mostly forgotten the danger of our situation through the fatigue, hunger, and pizza stench. Now, I had almost forgotten all that through the thrill of finally seeing our destination.

"I can see it too," Touya responded with a small smile. Suddenly, a bat flew overhead. I jumped in surprise. "I want to get there as fast as we can."

"Can we run?" I asked. A newfound energy found its way into my body, now that I could see the goal. We had escaped. We hadn't yet made it to our destination, but the end was in sight.

"If you're up to it," Touya agreed. Well, technically he didn't agree, but I wanted to run. Therefore, I ran.

I can't say that adrenalin was fueling me this time. My short little legs swung back and forth as I made it closer and closer to our goal. I didn't feel the burn. I think it was determination that fueled me. I really wanted to get there. I wanted to get this entire situation over with. Getting to the city was a step closer to the end.

The end meant food. The end meant rest. The end meant not being afraid of the police anymore. The end meant not running away anymore. The end meant getting this nasty pizza stench off me.

The end did not mean everything I wanted. The end did not mean making a friend with Xiang Wang. The end did not mean wearing comfy lion slippers. The end did not mean cuddling up with Mommy and Daddy around a warm cup of hot cocoa.

The end meant a lot.


	7. The King of Penguins

A/N: Just gonna post this short piece before going back to studying.

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Eventually we found a place, and sat down inside the store to eat a single large bowl of ramen. We bought a large serving for the two of us.

I started shoving the food into my mouth, relishing the beautiful taste of delight.

"Slow down, Sakura. We don't want your stomach to get upset. Eat however much you want though. I'll be fine," Touya warned me. I felt a little bad for digging into our shared food so happily, and made extra care not to eat any ramen from his side of the bowl. He would be hungry too, wouldn't he be?

The ramen went away all too quickly, but my stomach was pleasantly full. I relished in the comfort. We were both in a warm building, and with full stomach. I was pleased.

"Yum," I sighed.

"Are you ready to go to the bathhouse? We still have enough money left," Touya asked. I had nearly forgotten about the bathhouse. The old food smell had been drowned out by the ramen. Nonetheless, the thought of a warm bath was tempting. I smiled.

"Yeah! Let's go!" I accidentally spoke in Japanese. I clapped my hands over my mouth, and restated the phrase in Chinese while removing my hands from my mouth. Touya nodded in acceptance.

Even though we spoke in Chinese, I was still very glad that I didn't have to address him by his fake name. It felt natural to call him 'Touya', even after calling him "Shang" for months. He never really was 'Shang' to me. Touya was Touya. That wouldn't change no matter what happened.

We reached the bathhouse, and the sign with the small number was still up. We gingerly entered through the door.

"Good morning, children. How may I help you today?" a kind old looking Chinese woman behind the counter said. Touya made a move to answer the lady, but I was too excited and interrupted.

"You have baths here, right? We have money for a bath. May we? May we?" I asked, very excited. I threw her my best smile. This old lady seemed really nice, so I wanted to be nice to her. I was in a good mood. My belly was full, and I had warmed up in the restaurant. Also, the bruise on my side hadn't been aggravated lately, so I couldn't feel it too much.

"You're so cute! Yes, we do have baths here. Is this your first time?" she asked, and I nodded vigorously. "Well, today is our super sale day. Just go through those doors over there, and you will enter the co-ed change rooms."

I jumped up and down in excitement. This was so exciting! I wondered what it would be like. Would it be a super huge bath? That would be so cool. I started prancing to the door in question.

"M'am, where do we pay?" Touya asked politely. The woman smiled.

"This is your first time here, and your sister is so cute too! Go in for free, but just this once, and don't tell anyone," the woman said. She winked. Touya bowed deeply.

"Thank-you very much, m'am. We are very grateful for your charity," Touya said.

We entered the bathhouse, and it wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. However, there was flowing hot water, and I was very warm. Touya helped me wash my back. He was able to wash his own.

A couple ladies in the batthouse had eyed me while I was bathing. I wasn't bothered, but Touya was. When I asked him about it, he said that they were looking at my side. I finally got a glimpse of it, and it really was ugly. The bruise was really big, and it was quite purple. I didn't want to look at it for long. Touya tried to comfort me by saying that it would soon turn rainbow colours. I was sure that he was playing a joke on me or something. There was no way that my skin would turn into a rainbow. That would involve going into the sky, and I couldn't fly no matter how hard I tried.

Our hair was cleared of its debris. The awkward pop drips were removed from Touya's skin. All the pizza sauce was cleared from the pores on my body.

I finally felt clean, and could breath deeply without gagging. It was beautiful. I couldn't stop smiling even as we entered the outdoors. We had changed into the clothes we had worn the day before. However, we wore our bottom layer, because it had not been soiled by the garbage. We carried the soiled layer in our arms. I wondered what we were going to do with them.

I thought that the bathhouse would warm us up, and it did. However, it was only temporary. We were wearing half the clothes that we had been before, and the day had not warmed up that much in that short amount of time. I hoped that Touya had a plan for us. I looked to him.

We were just standing in front of the bathhouse. I guess Touya didn't have a plan. I guessed that now was my time to offer up a plan.

"Can we return to the penguin?" I asked. I rather liked the penguin. He was very friendly. I'm sure that he would take care of us. He was even wearing a crown! I secretly titled him the King of Penguins.

"That's a good idea, Sakura. We can keep warm with our exercise."

We walked back down the street, keeping a careful eye on where we had to turn. It was fairly easy to spot, because the King of Penguins could be seen down the street. He was small because of the distance, but his crown was unmistakable.

I was very pleased, and I walked a little faster. The penguin was awesome. I liked the penguin.

However, no matter how much we walked, the penguin didn't get any closer. At least, it didn't seam like the penguin was getting closer. I picked up the pace some more. I was determined to get the that penguin

I have a feeling that I was bored. What else was there to do other than walk to a penguin?

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The penguin provided us a shelter from the chilly winds for the rest of the day. The smell of rotten pizza and Coca-Cola had entirely faded away, so being under the penguin was no longer stifling.

I wondered why no-one visited the park. The weather wasn't that bad, and the penguin was beautiful. There were benches and trees and lots of sunlight hit the park.

"Touya, why won't anyone visit the park?" I asked, taking another turn on the slide. I had spent a lot my time since we had arrived back at the park merely climbing up the tiny ladder behind the penguin and sliding down the long slide. It was fun.

"Today is Tuesday, Sakura. Everyone is at school," Touya said. That made sense. We had gone to school for our Monday classes yesterday. Tuesday came after Monday. However, I wasn't happy about it.

I was finally in a good mood again. I wanted to talk with someone. I didn't have to be super secretive. At least, I didn't think I had to be secretive. I should probably ask Touya about that later, I thought,

I slid down the slide a few more times. All this exercise was keeping me warm despite the breeze. Touya watched over me from a bench. I offered for him to join me, but he was a downer and said that he didn't want to. He wasn't much fun.

Finally, someone came to the park. I squealed with delight. I was about to walk over to the person, but I was at the top of the penguin.

The person was an older man, and he was hunched over a little bit. His cane rattled about in front of him, and he moved quite slowly. His hat teetered dangerously on his head, which covered thinning hair. I couldn't see his face, because he was bent over, and I was all the way at the top of the penguin. However, I could see that his cane-free hand was carrying a stuffed grocery bag. I felt a little bad for the man.

Touya approached him as I slid down the slide. I could hear Touya talking with the man.

"I'll help you with that, sir," Touya offered politely. Touya wasn't polite to me, and I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him. He sucked up to everyone but me.

"Th-thank-you, young man. You are very kind. My h-house is just over there."

Even if Touya was acting, I was glad that he was helping the old man. The man had been struggling with the bag. I followed discreetly behind them. I figured that I wasn't needed, but I didn't want t o be left in the park alone.

They reached the house in no time, and Touya handed the man back his groceries. The older man looked at Touya and smiled.

"You are very kind, child. Wait a moment; I'll get you something in return for helping me," The man said. Touya didn't decline the offer.

I hadn't approached the door with them. However, I was waiting at the end of the pathway approaching the house. I wanted to hear what was going on. I didn't really want Touya out of my sight.

The man returned in a jiffy, and dropped something into Touya's hand. Touya thanked the man for the gift, and walked back down to me, after making sure the man got safely inside. He hadn't looked into his hand yet.

In his palm was a twenty yuan bill. Touya smiled.

"That was a nice man. This will help us with food tonight," Touya said. I'm sure that he was very grateful to the old man. I didn't think that Touya would like charity, but he had helped out the man. He hadn't gotten the yuan for free. This made everything alright.

"Good job, Touya," I said.

"I wasn't expecting any payment. However, perhaps I can try to help other people out to get us money for food. That is probably a good idea," Touya said pensively. I could tell that a plan was brewing in his head. "I don't think you can legally work here until you are fourteen at minimum. I don't think I can pull that off. Maybe in a year or so. I don't know if we will stay a year. Well, I can try to just do small jobs..."

Touya was rambling. It was kind of funny. I knew he was thinking about complicated stuff. Everything will surely be alright, I thought. There was no way that anything really bad was going to happen. Touya would take care of everything, so I didn't worry.

XxXxXxXxXx

A/N: The next chapter includes a character I haven't named yet. He's currently 123 ABC in my word document. If someone wants to name a small character, feel free to review with a suggestion. He's a large chinese man who Sakura fondly calls Sir Ramen Man.


	8. The Janitor's Closet

A/N: This is the last chapter that I have pre-written. Next time, you guys get some fresh material! No-one submitted a name, so the new character will be called something I make up. Thank-you for your reviews guys! I literally jump up and down when I receive them.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Night eventually came, and Touya and I lay inside the penguin again. We had eaten ramen again before going to sleep, with the money that the old man had given Touya.

The night was significantly colder than the night before. Even though I used my dirty clothes as a blanket and snuggled into Touya's chest, I was still really cold. I tugged the clothes tighter over myself. It wasn't working. I was still completely frigid. I started shivering.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Touya asked, quite drowsy. He was falling asleep.

I didn't answer. My teeth were chattering together. When I tried to talk, my teeth clamped down on my tongue, and it was painful. I shut my eyes closed and tried to focus on warming up. Maybe if I thought hard enough, the heat would come.

"Sakura, you're shaking! Sakura, answer me," Touya said. I couldn't quite hear everything because my mind was muddled. It was very cold, so my brain wasn't working very fast. "Oh my god. We need to get you inside somewhere!"

I didn't quite hear Touya, but I did feel the extra clothes being removed off me. Then I felt myself get picked up, and I found myself on Touya's back. I gripped his shoulders tightly, taking the bit of warmth I could find.

Touya was walking somewhere. I could here him muttering in Japanese. I didn't know if he was speaking to me or not, but I didn't care. The cold was taking over my brain a bit.

I was placed on the ground, so I leaned against the nearest object. I missed Touya's warmth, and wrapped my arms around myself. I heard Touya grunting a bit. There was a fair amount of rustling too.

"Sakura! Sakura! Come with me. It's warmer here," Touya said. The word 'warmer' caught my attention. I crawled over to his voice, and felt myself get picked up again. He said something else, but I was distracted. It was warmer wherever we were. I was back on the ground, but instead of grass, it felt like a floor.

My tensed muscles relaxed, and I could felt the heat wash over me. Touya wrestled with something again, then I found myself in his arms. I could pay attention to what he said again.

"I'll find a heater for us, OK? Please be OK. Please," Touya begged. It hurt me a little to hear him speak like that. I knew I had to respond, but I couldn't put too much thought into it.

"OK, Touya," I mumbled. I buried my face into his shoulder. I was feeling much better, but I was still tired.

"Oh, thank-you so much. I was so worried. I never should have let you sleep outside in this weather. That was really dumb of me," Touya scolded himself. I wanted to disagree and say that I liked the penguin, but I was falling asleep.

"Mmhm."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Touya shook me awake and stuck a finger to my mouth to shush me. I batted his hand away and rubbed my eyes with my fists. I finally opened my eyes, and looked at him to ask what he wanted.

"We need to get out of this building. Follow me."

I looked around us. I had been too preoccupied last night to figure out where we were. It looked like a storage room. It wasn't very large, and there was only one door and a small window. There was a ladder set up underneath the window, and one unlit light bulb hung from the ceiling. I figured that this room was not meant for sleeping in. The penguin was much more friendly.

Touya climbed the ladder, and wrestled with the small window. There was no lock on it, but the window did not have hinges to open with. Luckily, its entire frame including the glass popped out of place, and Touya placed it outside the opening. He climbed back down the ladder.

"Quickly, climb the ladder, and exit through the window. I'll follow," Touya ordered. I nodded briefly and followed his orders.

It was a little awkward transferring from the top of the ladder to the frame-less window, but I managed. I had grabbed a firm hold of the bare wood and pulled myself sharply across. I banged my knees a bit on the edge, but it wasn't too bad. I managed.

Touya followed quickly. He carefully placed the window and frame back in place. He had a look of confidence on his face.

"Ha! We did it, Sakura. Good job! I know that jump was hard," Touya congratulated. I smiled proudly too.

"Thank-you for supporting me," I answered. It occurred to me that we were speaking Japanese. "Touya, why are we speaking Japanese?"

"I figured that it would be bad if we didn't keep up with our Japanese by speaking Chinese too much. It's much easier to speak Japanese anyways. We can practise our Chinese in public. It's not that suspicious to be caught speaking Japanese anyways," Touya explained. I cheered. That made life easier. It was much easier to talk with Touya in Japanese!

"Where is this?" I asked? Currently, we were just outside that small window. It was only about a foot above the ground when we were outside, even though it was near the ceiling in that room. That didn't make sense to me. Now, we were in behind a bush, and it was still fairly dark out.

"Let's walk away first. I'll tell you on the way," Touya said. That was reasonable, so I followed.

Apparently we had entered the local elementary school building last night without permission. I felt a little guilty. However, Touya reminded me that we didn't do anything to hurt the school, so they wouldn't mind. Touya never told a lie, so I stopped feeling guilty.

He explained that he hadn't known that we would be able to enter at that window. However, it had popped right out why he had jiggled it a bit. The ladder hadn't been there, but he had jumped and moved it closer to the window so that he could fetch me from outside. He had done a very good job in looking after me, and I felt very safe. Even when Mother Nature tried to hurt me, Touya could protect me.

We still had money left from the day before, so we treated ourselves to some dinner at the ramen place. I had felt a little hungry all day, but Touya seemed to be worried that we would eat too much all the time. I tried to make him happier by pretending I was full throughout the day.

We were getting to the end of the bowl, and I still felt quite hungry. I ate a little faster, because I really didn't want to be hungry overnight. My chopsticks jostled against the bottom of the bowl, causing it to wobble slightly. Touya steadied it quickly, and I returned to eating the last few mouthfuls that I could.

In my rush, my chopsticks knocked the bowl again. However, Touya was not as quick as he was last time, and the bowl wobbled to the edge of the table. My eyes grew wide as I watched the impending doom occur in front of me. Touya's hands were jutting out at an amazing speed to catch the bowl, but I knew he wouldn't make it.

The crash echoed throughout the empty store. We were the only ones eating at that time, and the employee had disappeared. I looked at Touya in horror. I really hoped that the bowl hadn't crashed to the ground, and that this was all a dream. However, the big intimidating man who emerged from the back of the store made me know that I was not dreaming.

"You dirtied my floor!" the man yelled. While he did not seem violent, I was still scared. I didn't want anyone to be angry with me. I did something wrong, so I should be in trouble for it. I knew that. I didn't want to cause the Ramen Man any harm.

"We are sorry sir. May I clean it up for you?" Touya asked. He must have been trying to fix my mistake. I felt bad. I didn't want Touya to be helping me so much. I should help Touya sometimes too. I just didn't know how.

"You should. The broom is in the corner. When you are done sweeping, take the mop and pick up the leftover food," the Ramen Man ordered. He didn't seem as angry sounding as the last time he spoke, and I was a little relieved. However, I felt guilty as I watched Touya hustle to get the mop.

I sat awkwardly on the stool I had already been sitting on, and swung my legs to break the monotony. I didn't want to pay attention to Touya cleaning for me. I considered helping him, but I didn't know how. I wasn't sure what the Ramen Man meant by "sweeping", but I figured that it meant cleaning with a broom. I still wasn't too good with my Chinese. Even if I could figure out what sweeping meant, I had literally no idea what "mopping" was. My eyebrows scrunched together in my distress.

Touya swept with the broom, carefully picking up the pieces of broken ceramic into a dustpan. The small portion of leftover ramen lay in a puddle on the floor. Touya rushed to put the broken pieces of bowl into the garbage can, then he fetched a mop. I guess that was the tool used for "mopping". That made sense in context with everything. After sweeping, of course you'd need to pick up the wet parts. Mops did that, therefore "mopping" meant cleaning with a mop. I felt smart.

By the time I had finished analysing the meaning of the word "mopping", Touya was done sopping up the old contents of our ramen. I remembered that I was still hungry and frowned.

"Sir, I am done mopping," Touya called to the back room, where the Ramen Man had disappeared. The Ramen Man stuck his head out from the back room and nodded in acceptance. He entered the room to address Touya.

"Good job, son. That was very responsible of you," the Ramen Man said, while patting Touya on the head with one large hairy hand. Touya kept a straight face, but I'm sure that he was embarrassed. I giggled. I forgot that I was hungry, and my stomach suddenly growled loudly. My eyes widened in both shock and embarrassment.

"Are you still hungry, child?" I felt a little offended at being called a child. I was a big girl, at five-years-old, but I let him continue. "You didn't get to finish your bowl because it fell. Come! I'll serve you another. We always have extra ramen at non-peak hours like this."

I didn't know what 'non-peak hours' were, but I knew that he had just offered me food. Any inhibitions I had against the Ramen Man disappeared in that moment.

"Oh, thank-you, Sir Ramen Man!" I squealed as I jumped off the stool to come to him. The man gave a loud barking laugh, and I started a bit.

"Ha! My name is Shin Song, but thank-you for the title," the Ramen Man laughed. I guess I should probably call him Song then. I decided, however, that I would call him Sir Ramen Man anyways. It made him sound like a super hero, and he was definitely cool enough to be a super hero. Maybe he was even cool enough to be the knight of a royal kingdom!

"OK, Sir Ramen Man!"

"Kids these days," he muttered to himself, so I could barely catch it However, his eyes crinkled slightly, making me think that he liked my nickname. The he addressed Touya, "While this crazy kid eats some ramen, would you mind having a chat with me? I have a proposal for you."

"Yes, Mr. Song," Touya replied.

In just a few moments I had a fresh bowl of ramen all to myself, and I plopped myself back onto my stool. Sir Ramen Man had pulled Touya to the side and was talking to him.

I wasn't worried at all. Sir Ramen Guy was definitely a nice guy. Touya was a nice guy. Therefore, they would get along just fine. I happily dig into my huge bowl of delicious food.

My bowl was only halfway down, and my chopsticks had started to slow. I wasn't super hungry anymore, and I felt a little drowsy. I think having a full stomach made me tired. However, I was determined to eat the entire bowl, so I kept on eating. My eyes still drooped slightly.

Touya sat across from me, and said my name.

"Sakura. Sakura?"

"Mmhm? Oh! Touya?" I asked blearily. I saw the bowl of ramen in front of me, and felt compelled to continue eating it. However, I was once again awake and paid attention to what Touya was saying.

"Mr. Song has offered me some money to work here. Apparently we made a good impression, and he likes me. This will allow us to get food. Aren't you glad?" Touya explained seemingly quite pleased with himself.

"Wow," I managed to say with food still in my mouth.

"Haha. You're such a monster, Sakura!"

"What? No I'm not, you meanie!" I contested. I stopped eating for a moment to oppose his accusation. He was teasing me for talking with my mouth full again. It wasn't my fault that the food was delicious, or that the nice man had given it to me.

I eventually finished the bowl, but I was feeling very bloated. It was a welcome feeling though. I much preferred this over being hungry.

Touya bid farewell to Sir Ramen Man, and we left the store to go back…home? I didn't actually know where we were going. I just followed Touya.

After we walked for a few blocks, I figured out our destination. We were headed back to the school. At least, I thought that we were. We definitely weren't headed in the direction of the Penguin King. I couldn't completely remember the location of the school, because I'd only walked away from it once, and I'd never actually been aware when we'd gone there.

It turns out that I was correct. It was getting dark, but the nighttime chill hadn't yet set in. However, I really didn't want to be cold like I was the night before.

We approached the same window as last night, and Touya gently jostled it loose. He let me enter first, and I squirmed through the hole.

Getting in was a lot different than getting out. I didn't know how I was supposed to jump and reach the tiny platform that was on the top of the ladder. At least last time I had a huge target to aim for.

However, I felt brave, and decided to go for it anyways. I was currently crouching on the window ledge and balancing on my toes. I extended my legs as quickly as I could, and reached out my arms desperately to grab onto anything in reach.

The platform on the top of the ladder seemed so far away, but I managed to wrap my upper body around it. I hadn't quite made it, but I also hadn't hit the floor. I dangled there for a moment, then wrapped my legs around a piece of the ladder that I could actually reach. I grabbed onto one of the ladder's legs and shimmied down it, pretending that I was a fireman. Luckily, the ladder was made out of metal, and didn't have any splinters.

When I reached the bottom, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. My stomach twinged a bit, because it was still super full from that bowl and a half of ramen that I had eaten. Despite the slight ache, I made the thumbs up symbol at Touya, and walked away from the ladder to give him space.

He was much more graceful than I was, and he made it to the top of the ladder, and hopped down.

"You scared me," he said harshly, keeping his voice quiet. We weren't supposed to be in the school so I got the hint and was quiet too.

"Well, I had to get in somehow!"

"Tell me if you're having troubles with something. I'll help you," Touya ordered. I nodded, mostly because I didn't have the energy to argue. The food was really sitting in my stomach heavily.

"Can we sleep now?" I asked. I just wanted to curl up right now. My stomach was hurting. Touya nodded, and we lay down in the same place as we did last night. I was glad that we were inside. It was quite warm, so the only thing bugging me was my stomach.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: Oh no! Sakura isn't feeling well. See what happens next time! It'll be fun to write again.


	9. The Snack Closet

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! I didn't want to leave you guys for too long, but I want on a short vacation to visit family and couldn't write. Next chapter will be better, I promise!

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I lay there for a really long time. However, I could not go to sleep. I was starting to feel a little ill. I tried to focus on something else, like the contents of the shelves in front of me, and sometimes daydreams of royal castles. However, none of it worked. I felt really gross.

I rolled over and faced Touya, ready to ask him for help. However, he was fast asleep. This was rare. I was used to seeing him stare at the ceiling before I fell asleep. I guess he was tired.

He had helped me out today. I guessed that I shouldn't bother him, and go figure something out myself. He had done me a favour, and I would do the same in return.

I stood up quietly and inched toward the door. Using both hands to try to dampen the noise of the doorknob, I turned it. The door, thankfully, did not squeak, and I was able to close it shut behind me. Hopefully he wasn't waking up. I couldn't see him through the solid door.

I turned around and faced the inside of the school. I was in a long hallway, and there were bulletin boards posted everywhere. It must have been a Chinese school, because all the words were in Chinese. I guess that made sense. We were in China after all.

The air in the hallway was much less heavy than the air in that closet. I hadn't noticed that the closet was stuffy until I left it. Maybe the hallways just smelled fruity? It was all quite friendly.

I kind of liked all the open space of the hallway, without anyone else in it. I was used to having adults or Touya around all the time, and this felt exciting. It was almost like I was on an adventure! The pain in my stomach was almost forgotten. Standing had helped a little bit.

I decided to explore some more. There was enough light from the outside moon and streetlamps flooding in through the ceiling windows. I didn't know what those were called.

I tip-toed through down the hallway to my right. No-one would find me if I was quiet, right? However, the excitement of the moment got to me and I started skipping. I couldn't resist. This was just so much fun!

Preoccupied by the thrill of the adventure, I didn't hear the footsteps until they were very close. They startled me, and I quickly dodged around a corner before they saw me. At least, I hoped they hadn't seen me.

The footsteps continued approaching, and I was very scared. I didn't think I was allowed to be in the school after-hours. I frantically looked around for a better hiding place. After spotting an open door, and ran through it. I found myself in a classroom.

A closet door was to my left. In proper hide-and-go-seek style, I snuck in and closed the door behind me. The footsteps continued, and unfortunately entered the room I was hiding in. However, the closet door shielded me from the person.

A few slits of light were flowing through the bottom of the closet door. Upon closer inspection, I discovered there was a vent. I leaned down and peaked through it. I saw the person, presumably a teacher, sitting behind the desk shuffling some papers. She was very pretty. She looked different than I had ever seen someone look. It was hard to explain, but it was like her face was built differently than anyone else I'd met.

She stayed at the desk for quite a while, so it was quite boring. I looked around using the small amount of available light. After squinting my eyes to get a better look, I spotted snacks! There were all sorts of snacks: crackers, granola bars, and cookies at the top. I almost giggled with glee, until I felt the unpleasant heaviness in my stomach. I decided to come back when I was hungry again.

The squeak of a chair scraping against the floor startled me. The lady had gotten up and was leaving the classroom. That was a relief.

After waiting a few minutes, I snuck out of the closet and walked back to Touya. I felt much better and I was quite thrilled about my adventure. After reaching the closet, I lay down and fell asleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I awoke in the morning to Touya proding my shoulder.

"I'm going to go to the ramen shop and see if Mr. Song needs any help. When the sun rises, climb out the window and stay at the penguin until I come get you. Ok?"

"Mmhm," I said drowsily. My eyes fluttered shut and I could barely hear Touya as he climbed out the window.

I would have fallen back to sleep, but my stomach growled. I also realised that I really needed to pee. I lifted myself up and decided what to do.

There were very few spots that you were allowed to pee. There weren't any spots outside, so I decided to see if I could find a bathroom in the school. I snuck out the closet door and found a bathroom.

After using the bathroom, I remembered the closet from last night. I retraced my steps, snuck back into the closet, and closed the door behind me. I was very excited. It had been a long time since I had eaten cookies.

I struggled to open the cookie box with my small fingers, but I was rewarded afterward with their sweet taste.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened and the lady from last night walked in. I became very silent. Moments later, a dull roar of children could be heard. It grew in volume, until finally the classroom filled with students my age.

It was very scary, being trapped in that closet. I stayed perfectly still in pure terror, the cookies forgotten.

When the lecture started, I was able to calm down. Classes were familiar to me. I liked learning new things. It was difficult to understand the muffled Chinese through the closet door, but it was still fun. It was like a game, trying to figure out what the words meant.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Eventually, the students left the classroom. I assumed that they would be eating lunch. I realised that they might need the food I was eating during their lunch. I shuffled into the back corner of the closet. This reminded me of when Touya and I hid in the shed all those months ago. I flopped some piece of clothing over my head for camouflage.

I lay there for quite some time.

Then I woke up.

I must have fallen asleep while waiting for lunch to be over. I peeked through the grate at the bottom of the door and noticed that the classroom had emptied. School was over.

I exited the closet and noticed that no sun was coming through the windows. The sun had set.

I ran back to the janitor's closet where Touya and I normally slept. I didn't want to be caught by Touya wandering around. I was supposed to be at the Penguin King!

It was too dark out for me to go outside. It was scary.

I waited, scared that Touya would be furious at me. Finally, a shadow moved against the small window and Touya entered. He smiled with relief.

"I was so worried when I couldn't find you at the penguin. It was good thinking coming back here when it got dark, Sakura. I don't want you to get cold again, especially while I'm not around."

I nodded. At least he wasn't angry, even if he was wrong.

"I earned some money today. Enough for us to have baths and ramen again. Come with me. Let's eat."


End file.
